Big goals for three Estes Park triathletes

A prize Steven Wens covets is the hug he gets from his wife at the end of his races. (Courtesy Photo / Estes Park Trail-Gazette)

Big goals take three Estes Park triathletes to the Boulder Ironman competition on Sunday, Aug. 3. On the sunny Sunday, almost 3,000 athletes swam 2.4 miles in the Boulder reservoir, biked 112-miles around the city's open space and finished running the two-loop Boulder Creek trail for the 26.2 marathon.

"It was a really warm day," said Estes Park resident Steven Wens who found himself cramping pretty bad by the time he transitioned from the bike to the run. The Boulder Ironman was Wen's second 140.6-mile distance race.

"I did the 'Vineman' full distance marathon a couple of years ago. The best part of that race was enjoying the wine at the end of the California race."

Wens started his competitive racing with Estes Park's first marathon, "that was the first one for me and it turned out so bad that I had to do another to prove I could do better." In fact, he does so well in all three racing categories that you'll often find his name at the top of his age group whether it's running, cycling, swimming or a race with a combination of any of those three. In the Ironman, Wens placed top 25 in his age group.

"I really like the cross-training that triathlons require," said Wens. "I trained hard for this Ironman and now I get to transition into cycle-cross for a few months." Wen's isn't sure if another Ironman 140.6 distance is in his future, "I'm not ruling it out just yet."

Advertisement

For part-time Estes resident Terry Menghini, the Boulder race was her fifth Ironman. Menghini is a member of the "Marathon Maniacs" and has participated in over 150 marathons.

"I usually do a marathon every other weekend," said Menghini. "I started doing races as a way to keep in shape. Then the challenge to do something longer and harder got me into trying an Ironman."

"The heat of Boulder, didn't affect me too bad because of the two Louisville Ironman's races were hot so I was used to the heat. I thought the Boulder Ironman bicycle route between 40 - 80 miles was the hardest. It was a constant incline without any relief. Boulder Ironman was definitely the hardest Ironman I've done so far," said Menghini.

At the end of an all-day race, it's often extremely hard to keep going. "I had a guardian angel this race who worked through me to help another athlete who was going to quit around mile 14 in the run," said Menghini. "I was hurting as well and I forced myself through a mental block, kept telling the other athlete to stay with me. We talked and walked and jogged and before we knew it we were a couple of miles from the finish line."

Menghini's race wasn't about the time, "in fact my time really stunk. However, one of my goals was that I wanted to come in during the final hour for one of my Ironman races this year and because of the attachment to this other athlete, we were able to slow down and come in during the last hour." Athletes, spectators, sponsors and race volunteers always congregate at the finish line the final hour. "It's a real party that last hour."

Menghini's guardian angel still has lots of work ahead, "I'm signed up for the Louisville Ironman again this year on August 24 and then I was selected by 'lottery' to participate in the daddy-of-them-all Kona Ironman in Hawaii in October." A dream come true for Menghini.

Estes Park physician Scott Taylor, DPM also competed in the Boulder Ironman, which was his third. Taylor's personal goal to qualify for Kona didn't happen in Boulder, "it was a pretty hot race and I had a tough marathon with lots of cramping forcing me to walk more than I wanted," said Taylor. He will be giving it another try when he competes again in the Arizona Ironman.

Why the Ironman?

For Taylor "It's the challenge of competing, the friendships that I have made and being part of a team."

For Menghini, "it's the motivation, friendships and fitness of participating in marathons and Ironmans."

For Wens, "it's the prize he gets at the end of his races when he hugs his wife."

Article Comments

We reserve the right to remove any comment that violates our ground rules, is spammy, NSFW, defamatory, rude, reckless to the community, etc.

We expect everyone to be respectful of other commenters. It's fine to have differences of opinion, but there's no need to act like a jerk.

Use your own words (don't copy and paste from elsewhere), be honest and don't pretend to be someone (or something) you're not.

Our commenting section is self-policing, so if you see a comment that violates our ground rules, flag it (mouse over to the far right of the commenter's name until you see the flag symbol and click that), then we'll review it.